Drowning While They Drift
by Riverthunder
Summary: WARNING: Contains Spoilers for Infinity War. Rated T for Swearing and possible dark situations. After being freed from the Soul Stone, Peter has to deal with the mental strain the experience placed on him. Luckily, Tony has ideas on how to help Peter cope, and the Avengers are eager to have him and Aunt May join them on the base to make him part of their family.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I would like to warn any potential readers that this story contains references to PTSD, panic and anxiety attacks, depression, and mental illness in general. Later in this story, Peter will have a service dog to help him cope (I really wanted to write about a superhero coming to terms that he has a mental disability and** ** _it is okay and doesn't change the fact that he is a superhero_** **. I am writing about PTSD, panic and anxiety attacks, and depression based on my own experiences. These may not reflect your own experiences; that does not mean I think your experiences are incorrect, they're just not what I, personally, experience. Finally, I do not personally have a service dig, but I have done extensive research on psychological service dogs as I could benefit from one.**

 **IF YOU ARE NOT LOOKING FOR AN ANGST FIC, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO READ** ** _MY ITSY BITSY SPIDER_** **INSTEAD. That fic will have little to no angst; only fluff. This will have angst, but it is angst that comes with fluff. Take your pick.**

Tony stared at Peter. He was back. After all this time, all that time of searching for a way to do it, he was back.

He didn't really pay attention to the others. Strange was trying to praise him, Mantis and Quill and Drax were looking over the scene, surprised to finally have returned. T'Challa and Bucky looked confused.

Peter was just glancing around nervously. He seemed jumpy.

Tony reached out a hand tentatively. What was he supposed to say? To do? How was he supposed to convey his regret for what had happened to him?

"Kid?"

Peter Parker's eyes snapped to him. "Mr….Mr. Stark?"

His voice was trembling.

Tony reached out. He was afraid that it was a trick. What if Thanos wasn't really defeated, and Peter would turn to ash in his fingertips yet again?

Was the Reality Stone playing tricks on his mind?

Peter stumbled forward, falling into Tony's arms. He caught the boy easily, supporting his weight. Peter was trembling in his arms. "It's okay, kid," Tony murmured. "You're okay now."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," Peter mumbled into his chest.

"It's not your fault, kid," Tony said in a soft voice, hugging him close. "Nothing about this was ever your fault."

Tony slowly lowered the two of them to the ground. His knees had started to feel weak; he was just so _relieved_ that Peter was still solid in his arms, still breathing, still had a beating heart.

 _Everything was my fault._

~(*)~

Peter sat up in bed, panting and trying to calm his racing heart. It wasn't working. He could feel himself trying to draw in gasping breaths but he couldn't feel the relief of the air in his lungs. His heart was trying to break out of his chest and flee. His mind was racing.

 _Danger._

 _Danger._

 _Danger._

 _Run._

 _Not safe._

 _Not safe._

 _Not safe._

 _You._

 _Need._

 _To._

 _RUN._

Peter tried to think of something more sensible to do. Running around Queens in the middle of the night was not a good idea. At the very least, if May got up before he got home he would really worry her.

He fumbled for his phone at his bedside table, then scrolled through the numbers programmed into it.

He clicked one and held the phone to his ear.

A groggy voice answered him.

"Kid? What's up?"

"Mr. Stark," Peter gasped, still clutching his chest. His heart and his lungs hurt. "Mr. Stark, I can't breathe and I can't calm down and I'm so scared, I don't feel safe, Mr. Stark, I'm sorry but I want to leave what do I do-"

"Peter," Tony said, his voice calm but firm. He sounded more awake than he had when Peter called. "Peter, focus on my voice, okay? You're having a panic attack. You're going to be okay, I promise. I'm coming over. Just try to keep your mind on my voice and remember that _you are safe_."

"A-are you sure?" Peter asked. He couldn't help noting the childish way he said it. He sounded pathetic.

"I promise," Tony replied firmly. "Now, do you have an extra pillow or something? Something physical you can hold?"

Peter felt another rush of embarrassment.

"I...I have a teddy bear," he admitted in a soft voice. He couldn't believe this. He just admitted to _Tony Stark_ that he still had a teddy bear.

"Good," Tony said. "I want you to hold your teddy bear as loosely or as tightly as you need. Focus on the feeling of its fur while you focus on the sound of my voice. Can you do that?"

Peter fumbled around in the bedsheets for Bailey.

"Y-yeah," Peter said as his fingertips grazed Bailey's soft fur. He leaned to the side and seized Bailey by the arm, hugging the bear as tightly as possible.

"I'm almost there," Tony promised. "Now, do you think you can make it to the living room?"

Peter swallowed and nodded,then remembered Tony couldn't see him. "Y-yes, Mr. Stark."

"Okay. Do that for me. I'll be up there before you know it."

Peter slowly crawled out of bed, still clinging to Bailey and judging each step before taking it. He felt like he really shouldn't be walking right now. But Mr. Stark was right; it would be weird for him to help a kid he barely knew deal with a panic attack in their bedroom.

Somehow, even in his frazzled thoughts, Peter felt a stab of pain. Mr. Stark was the closest thing he had to a father figure now, and he loved him like a father, even if he didn't see him much. But Mr. Stark only saw him as a young superhero with valuable powers in need of honing. He was an Avenger because he was useful, not because he was liked. Mr. Stark didn't usually praise him during battles, didn't have much to say if it wasn't an order, explanation, or criticism. Why did Peter have to bother him with trivial, unnecessary problems like this?

Well, for this, at least, he had some sort of reason; Mr. Stark understood. He knew that Peter had _felt_ it when Thanos forced him to drift away as ash on the wind. He knew his spidey senses had warned him of the danger he was in before he gave in. No one else had felt that. Quill hadn't noticed, he said.

And he also hadn't experienced what Peter had in the Soul Stone.

Peter shuddered at the memory.

 _I didn't deserve to die_ , came her voice. _This isn't love. Quill! Quill! Can you hear me? I didn't want him to know. I tried. Quill, I love you. Quill, I'm sorry._

No one else had heard her cries.

At least Tony understood that Peter's heightened senses had made the whole experience worse.

They had drifted.

Peter had drowned.

He reached the couch just as Tony spoke again.

"I'm coming in, okay, kid?"

"'K-kay," Peter stuttered.

The door opened. Tony replaced his key to the apartment in his pocket.

"How are you doing now, kiddo?"

Peter's mouth felt dry. He just shook his head.

"I'm going to get you something warm to drink, and then we'll work on calming you down."

Peter nodded.

He sure was going to a lot of trouble for him. Wasn't he the most aggravating Avenger for Tony Stark?

Mantis's voice rose, unbidden, to the front of his thoughts.

 _Kick names. Take ass._

Maybe calling himself the most aggravating Avenger was a _bit_ self-deprecating.

Quill could sure get on Mr. Stark's nerves.

Tony finished warming a mug of milk in the microwave and took a spoon from the cutlery drawer. Peter heard May stir in her room. He hadn't noticed the buzz of the microwave but perhaps it had woken her.

Tony added a few spoonfuls of hot chocolate mix into the milk and walked back to the couch. He sat beside Peter on the couch and set the mug on a coaster on the side table.

"Okay, kid," Tony said in a soft, soothing voice. "Now, when I'm having an anxiety attack, I've found it helps me a lot when Pepper hugs me. Not everyone likes that though; plenty of people don't want to be touched. What about you? Do you think that will help?"

Peter tried to force himself to say no. _Don't be a baby_. But he wanted this to end, and if there was a possibility it would help…. He nodded.

Tony reached over and hugged Peter tightly with one arm. His grip was surprisingly strong, but it was comforting, too. Peter felt safer already; like Tony's arm was a barrier between him and the danger his instincts insisted they could sense.

"I'm sorry you're having a panic attack, kid," Tony murmured softly, stirring the hot chocolate mix into the milk with his free arm as he spoke.

"But I'm not sorry you need the hug." He paused. "I need it, too."

Peter had to take a moment to process that. He looked up at Tony Stark in surprise.

"Wh-what?"

"You really gave me a scare, kid."

Peter scowled. When? He hadn't been out for a while. Spider-Man had taken a bit of a holiday while he tried to cope with the Soul Stone incident.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again after Thanos got the Infinity Stones."

Peter felt his eyes widen in surprise. He glanced over at Mr. Stark. "Y-you… you cared?"

Tony looked down at him sharply. "What do you mean? You thought I didn't?"

"I thought I annoyed you," Peter admitted in a soft, nervous voice. "I thought you only kept me around for my powers."

Tony sighed, looking up at the ceiling. He was still stirring.

"That's fair, I suppose," he murmured. "When I first recruited you for that feud with Steve, it was mostly for your powers. I knew you were powerful so I found you and recruited you." He paused. "But you grew on me, kid. Sometimes you still get on my nerves, that's true. All those pop culture references and calling anything older than High School Musical 'old'- seriously, kid, relatively speaking, _The Empire Strikes Back_ isn't that old, and neither is _Footloose_." Tony paused and glanced down at Peter, giving him a serious look. He returned his gaze to the ceiling. "Though, it was never the greatest movie of all time, I'll give you that. And feel free to tell Quill I said so."

Tony paused, trying to put his thoughts in words. "Do you remember what you told me when I asked why you do this? Why you became Spider-Man?"

Peter shook his head. He couldn't remember much about that conversation besides the thrill of having a personal hero who doubled as a superhero on in his room.

"You said, _when you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen? They happen because of you._ And that's stuck with me, kid. You know why?"

Peter shook his head.

"Because you really mean it. And I _know_ you really mean it. You prove that to me all the time. When we fought Thanos-"

Peter stiffened ever so slightly at the mention of the name.

"-you were saving everyone you could from being hurt by him. You snatched them out of the air and put them in safe places. You even apologized for not remembering their names. Because you _care_ , kid. You really care. You can't fake that kind of empathy."

Peter hugged Bailey tighter in his arms. He fixed his eyes on the bright red bow tie at the bear's throat, focusing on the shade of it and trying to pinpoint what it was exactly. Cardinal, maybe?

"I haven't been helping anyone lately," he whispered guiltily. "I hide in my room. I only ever put on the mask and it's so I can talk to Karen."

Tony's grip became impossibly tighter. "I know."

Peter looked up, shocked.

"I haven't listened in or anything," Tony said calmly. "But your suit is programmed to alert me when you put it on, and to let me know for how long. And it records your conversations with Karen. I know usually you just put the mask on and talk to her for a few hours. And, kid," he added, looking back down at Peter at last, " _that's okay_."

"But you-"

"I'm different," Tony interrupted. "I'm an adult and this is my job. And I'm looking out for the world on a _much_ bigger scale. Queens isn't going to collapse in a night because you left it to the police. You have to look out for yourself too, Peter. I'd make you rest up if you broke your leg, and what you went through was a burden on your mind. It's going to take a while to heal. You need to take some time to come to terms with that and that's no one's fault but Thanos's."

"But I-"

"Peter," Tony said in a soft voice, "if you don't look out for yourself now you'll only make things worse for yourself in the long run, and then where will the neighborhood be without its friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?"

Silence hung in the air as Peter considered those words.

Tony passed him the mug of hot chocolate. The mug was warm and comforting, and the drink smelled heavenly. Peter grasped the mug with both hands, keeping a tight hold on Bailey with one arm, and sipped from the mug. It tasted just as delicious as it smelled. But it was also hot. He nearly burnt his tongue on the scalding liquid.

He heard someone shift their weight to another foot and looked to the doorway to the hall. May was watching them talk, leaning against the doorway. "He's not half bad at this parenting thing, is he?" May commented casually.

Tony squeezed Peter's shoulder. "What can I say? I've taken a liking to this kid. He's like a son to me."

Peter hastily took another gulp of hot chocolate, forgetting caution and thoroughly burning his tongue and throat. Tony Stark thought of _him_ , measly little Peter Parker, as a son?

He had tears in his eyes, and not from the hot chocolate.

Tony didn't seem to notice. Or, if he did, he was tactful enough not to say anything.

"Well, it's pretty easy when your kid is this smart," he said casually. "I used his web experiments as the basis for making his current web, and I have to say, they were pretty ingenious, especially for his age."

May nodded slowly. "You okay, Peter?"

He wasn't sure how to respond. He felt a bit better, but he didn't feel safe yet.

"I'll look after him, May," Tony replied for him. "Sorry for waking you up."

May looked back to Peter, who nodded, and dipped her head. "Alright. I hope you feel better soon."

She turned and left around the corner.

"I'm sorry," Peter mumbled.

Tony looked down. "Sorry for what?"

"Waking you up. Making you come here in the middle of the night."

"Kid, you didn't _make_ me do anything. I could have ignored your call, I could have sent Happy, hell, I could have sent an empty suit. I came because I wanted to. Because you needed me and I wanted to help you."

Tony sighed. "I do hate how far away you are from us, though. I'd rather you be closer." He gave Peter a look. "That offer to live on the Avengers base is still open, you know, kid."

"But...May…."

"That offer is for both of you. Was I not clear in my tone?" There was a slight edge of teasing in his voice. "Besides, I think she'd like the gang, don't you?"

"I don't know if she'd go for it," Peter mumbled.

"Do _you_ want to go for it?"

Peter looked up at Tony. "I don't want you to feel pressured. But it _is_ an option. At the very least, if you had another panic attack- and I'm sorry to say, kid, it's not unlikely- it would be easier for me or Bruce or someone to take care of you."

Peter didn't want to admit he didn't think he'd dare go to anyone else about this sort of problem. He just nodded slowly. "That would be nice…."

"Plus it could take some of the stress off May. Less work for her to do if she lives on the Avengers base with us; FRIDAY does most of the work."

"What about school?"

"I have a private jet, Peter. Getting you to class on time isn't likely to be an issue. Plus we have Strange visiting _constantly_." Tony groaned. "I wish we could make magic proof locks."

"Can…. Can I think about it? Maybe talk to May?"

"Of course, kid. Did you think I was going to force you?" Tony chuckled. "You just let me know when you want to come, if ever. That door's always open."

They sat in silence for a bit.

"...Mr. Stark?"

"Hmm?"

"Did...did you mean what you said about me to Aunt May? That thing about…. About…."

"Thinking if you as a son," Tony guessed. "Yeah, I did."

Peter looked up, trying not to let on that tears were forming in his eyes again. "You...you did?"

Tony looked down. "Did I overstep my bounds?"

"N-no," Peter mumbled. "It's just… I've never had parents. Not that I can really remember, anyway. Uncle Ben and Aunt May have been good to me but… they're not my parents, and I can't really call them Dad and Mom, you know?" Peter rubbed the tears from his eye with a knuckle, hoping it looked like it was just itchy rather than tearful. "A-and I haven't had a father figure ever since Ben died." He took a breath and mumbled, "I… I know it probably sounds disrespectful to my real parents but… they weren't ever around to be parents. I guess I thought of you as the closest I was going to get to a dad aside from Ben."

Tony sighed softly, resting his chin on Peter's head.

"Peter, if you want me to be your dad, then you can call me Dad."

He glanced down at him and winked. "Maybe just not during a fight, especially if that bad guy can hear and understand us. Don't want people thinking I'm old enough for kids."

Peter scoffed, but laughed at the same time between tears.

"Th-thanks, D- Mr. Stark."

"I don't see any villains," Tony said, looking around the room with mock curiosity.

Peter laughed. "D-Dad, then."

"There you go."

Peter took a deep breath, considering the way it had felt to call Tony Stark _Dad_.

Somehow, it felt right.

Tony hugged him tighter again and the pair sat in silence for a long time while Tony hugged the youngest Avenger as he sipped at his hot chocolate.

~(*)~

"Karen?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"Do you think everything will be okay at the base?"

"Yes. Mr. Stark has been working very hard to make sure of that."

"I hope so."

"Would you like to place a call to Mr. Stark and discuss it with him?"

"No...no, that's okay."

Peter lay on his bed in silence for a bit, then finally sat up. "Bye, Karen."

"Goodbye, Peter."

He took off the mask and tossed it onto the bed.

He walked into the living room and saw May finishing packing the last of the dishes.

"Need any help?"

May looked up. "No, I think this is the last of it."

"I haven't been much help…." Peter mumbled apologetically. "Sorry."

"That's not true," May disagreed. "You've been a big help, Peter. You've helped pack up every other room."

Peter shrugged. "I guess."

"Do you think I should get some groceries to cook dinner when we get there?" May asked. "I don't want to assume anyone else is going to feed us."

The doorbell rang before Peter could answer. He hurried to open it.

"Hey, sport," Tony said, walking in and ruffling Peter's hair while Happy scurried inside after him, a group of movers at his heels. Happy immediately began directing them to move boxes out of the apartment.

"Hi, Dad," Peter mumbled. It was still strange to call Tony that, but also still nice.

"To answer your question, May, we'll cook," Tony said, walking over and taking the box of dishes out of her hands and weighing it in his own. "We're not very good at it, granted, but cooking is not your job."

"It sounds like I don't really _have_ a job on the base," May replied.

Tony shrugged. "You've got a job off base. No need for you to be doing jobs on base too."

Tony turned back to Peter. "All packed?"

"All except my mask and the bed," Peter said.

"I'll help you with the bed," Tony said, walking over to Happy. "Take this out to the truck, please."

Happy nodded, and Tony followed Peter to his room.

More boxes were stacked up in this room. "Let's see here," Tony said, crouching down to examine the bed. "Hmm. Not hard to disassemble. Got a wrench?"

Peter nodded, looking around. "I think- yeah, I left it on my desk." He seized it and passed it to Tony, who began taking the bed apart.

"How have you been doing, kiddo?"

"A… a bit better," Peter said. It was only partially true. "The breathing exercises help some." Peter didn't clarify _when I remember them_.

"Hopefully the base will help too."

Tony began pulling the mattress and box-spring off the bed. Peter moved to help him.

"I don't know," Peter said before he could stop himself. "What if I just annoy everyone?"

"If anyone says you're annoying I'll be having words with them," Tony said, he tone dark. "No one insults my son."

Peter felt a rush of affection for Tony.

"But that won't happen."

"You sound really sure of that."

"Of course I am. Everyone is excited for you to come live on the base. I think I heard Thor yell-planning a surprise welcome party. He's not very subtle."

Peter laughed.

"Damn, who put this bed together?" Tony grunted, working to take the legs off one side.

"I think it was Ben," Peter told him, looking at the leg. "How can I help?"

"No need. Just- _man_ , this guy did not want anyone getting this bed back in multiple pieces."

Eventually the bolt came free from the metal bed frame and Tony gasped in surprise at the sudden give. "Finally."

"Need any help, Mr. Stark?" Happy asked, poking his head into the bedroom. "Yeah, thanks, Happy. Can you start packing these out to the van? I'll help Peter with May's bed."

"Of course, sir," Happy nodded, directing movers into Peter's room. "Careful of the desk," he said sharply to one mover as he bumped into it attempting to allow Tony and Peter to pass. "I don't want it scratched."

"That desk is already scratched," Peter said, but Happy either didn't hear him or ignored his words.

Tony let Peter lead the way to May's bedroom. She was watching as movers picked up boxes and carried them out of the apartment, looking frazzled.

"We're going to take your bed apart so the movers can fit it in the van," Peter told her as they turned the corner.

She nodded, distracted by the sounds of china shifting in one of the boxes as a mover picked it up.

"If you break anything in that box, I'll be having words with your superior," Tony warned the mover. "It says 'Fragile' for a reason."

Peter looked over at Tony.

"What? I remembered May telling me that china was her mother's. I'm not having that kind of loss on my conscience."

"Do you have an eidetic memory?" Peter asked.

"I wish," Tony chuckled. "No, I just pay attention to what's important to people I care about."

"That's really nice, Dad," Peter said.

Tony shrugged, but smiled. "Thanks, kid. Now, help me with this mattress and box-spring, will you?"

~(*)~

Peter stared up at the Avengers base. Even with the packed boxes and the moving truck, he hadn't really realized he was actually going to be living _here_ from now on until this moment.

"Big, isn't it?" May said, staring at the building too.

"It's bigger on the inside," Tony said, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees.

The car pulled to a stop. The moving trucks were already there, having followed Happy in a different car. Tony had insisted on taking Peter and May to lunch before they got to the base.

Happy was watching as movers took boxes from the truck, showing him labels. He directed them, making movements that showed Peter he was directing the movers to different rooms based on the boxes they held.

Tony opened the door to the side he was on and climbed out, hurrying over to open May's door for her. Peter climbed out on the side Tony had been on.

It really was big.

"Come on inside," Tony said, taking the door handle. He leaned down a bit next to Peter. "And if Thor really went through with a surprise party, act surprised. I shouldn't have given it away."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Peter said. A surprise party for _him_? Sounded like a practical joke.

Tony opened the door and ushered May and Peter inside.

"Hey! It's the kid!"

Peter felt a rush of surprise as Rhodey beamed at him.

"Hey, FRIDAY! Tell everyone the kid is here!"

"Rhodey, don't overwhelm him," Tony sighed in exasperation.

"What? Nah, it's fine!" Rhodey insisted. "You _know_ everyone has been dying to meet your kid off the battlefield."

"Um, hello," May said.

"Oh, hi! You must be May. I'm Rhodey." Rhodey held out a hand to May to shake. She took it and smiled, pleased by the politeness of the superhero.

"Come on, Peter, let's go see more of the base. The bedrooms are just past the living room."

Tony lead the way around the corner to the living room.

"AH! THE MAN OF SPIDERS HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! WELCOME, MAN OF SPIDERS!"

Peter jumped, and he felt a bit better when he realized Tony had too.

"Goddammit, Thor," Tony gasped. "You could have given us some warning."

"This is a surprise greeting," Thor replied. His voice was still a bellow, but not as loud has it had been. "I was under the impression a warning negated the surprise."

"Okay, fair, but still. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Tony panted, grasping at his chest as if to check that his heart was, in fact, still beating.

"Nice to see you, Parker!" Quill called from the couch.

Tony seemed to recover from his potential heart attack immediately. "Get your feet off the fucking coffee table right now."

Steve Rogers walked over, holding his hand out to Peter, who stared at him in shock, holding his hand out tentatively. "Nice to see you, Spider-Man."

"Uh, y-you too," Peter said, staring at Captain America with wide eyes.

"You're very impressive," Steve told him. "You remind me of myself when I was younger."

Peter stared at him. "What?"

"Tony talks about you all the time," Natasha smiled, coming over to usher Peter into the living room. Peter noticed it was connected to a kitchen, where Bruce was pouring chips into a bowl.

"R-really? He does?" Peter looked around to check Tony's face. He thought he could see a hint of a blush.

"He's always showing us your texts and voicemails," Bruce nodded.

Peter couldn't have wiped the grin off his face if he wanted to.

"Come, Man of Spiders!" Thor yelled, waving a hand to the counter. "We have made you a celebration feast to honor your joining us here!"

"Oh, wow," Peter said, taking notice of the food for the first time. Pizzas, popcorn, chips, candy, soda, cupcakes, and many other foods were piled up on every surface of the kitchen that was available besides a small portion of one counter on which paper plates, plastic cutlery, and paper napkins had been added. "Thanks," he added, taking a cupcake.

"Of course, Man of Spiders!" Thor said, a huge grin of pride on his face. "Please enjoy your surprise celebration of welcome!"

~(*)~

After a few hours, Peter was starting to feel overwhelmed and nervous. All these bodies in one place-

" _Where am I?"_

" _I can't see anything…."_

" _Is anyone there?"_

" _I'm going to kill Thanos-"_

" _Quill? Quill? QUILL, ANSWER ME!"_

"Hey, kiddo, let's go check out your room," Tony said, pulling him into a one armed hug. Peter couldn't help noticing it felt very similar to the hug Tony had given him when he had had his panic attack.

Had Tony guessed?

"Excuse me, Quill," Tony said, maneuvering past him.

"This room," said Tony, reaching a door, "is yours."

The door had a decal of a spider sitting in the middle of a web. Tony opened the door.

"Holy shit," Peter said, before he could stop himself. "This is as big as our apartment was!"

"Bigger, actually," Tony said casually. "Come check it out. There's room for your old bed and other furniture here, but you've got another desk with a new supercomputer here, and you've got a new king sized bed. High ceilings so you can mess around with your web, and Karen is programmed into your room."

"Hello, Peter," Karen's voice said.

"Oh, wow! Hi, Karen!"

Tony smiled, looking pleased with himself.

Peter spun on his heel. "Dad, this is amazing!"

"It's nothing," Tony smiled, giving Peter a fond look. "Anything for my son."

Peter moved to hug Tony, who hugged him back. "I hope you like it, Peter. If you need anything, Karen can alert FRIDAY for me."

Tony turned and headed for the door. Peter noticed that there was another room connected to his where the boxes from the apartment had been placed.

"I'll help you unpack and put your bed together tomorrow," Tony said. "For now, get some rest. You've had a big day."

Peter watched as Tony walked out to rejoin the party, closing the door behind him.

Peter heard the lock click.

He turned to his new bed and laid down on the comforter and pillows, staring around his new room.

"Karen?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"I think I'm going to like living on the base."

 **AN: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of** ** _Drowning While They Drift_** **! Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, I'd really like to know more people enjoyed this story and want to see it continue. Next chapter will involve more interactions with the Avengers, including Peter making friends with a scientist/princess through vines and memes.**


	2. Chapter 2

"So what's it like, living with the Avengers?" Ned said the name with reverence. Peter understood, even if that illusion had been broken for him fairly quickly. Sure, the Avengers were cool, but they were also _people_.

Quill made terrible references to old movies, and liked to challenge other Avengers to dance battles and sing offs. Bruce spent a lot of time with May in the kitchen, trying to make sure everyone ate decent food. Natasha liked to sit on the couch in front of the TV and thumb through thick novels. Thor…. well, he was a big puppy, essentially- a very excitable puppy, who always wanted to go off doing something or celebrating something, and insisted Peter be included in every one of these ventures. And, of course, there was Tony. Tony, who let Peter call him Dad and had given him his own space in the lab on the base to tinker around with experiments. Who kept updating the Iron Spider suit with new gadgets and gear to keep Peter as safe as possible. Who gave him an unassuming watch that actually doubled as an alert to Tony if Peter's heart rate spiked due to another anxiety attack, and which came with a panic button if Peter needed rescuing.

"To be honest," said Peter slowly, "it feels sort of….normal."

Ned stared at him, open mouthed. "I want to hear everything."

Peter started with the welcome party, trying to include details Ned might like- that it was Thor's idea, and the God of Thunder referred to him as the Man of Spiders, that Tony had given him a huge room with plenty of space to mess around with his webs, and during one visit in Peter's room had only commented on the sheer number of web hammocks he made, that Thor loved being allowed to help Aunt May and Bruce with the cooking.

Peter could always tell when Thor helped with a meal. He was usually given the duty of chopping up vegetables, and whenever he did it, the vegetables were served in sizable chunks. May had told Peter that he was always so proud of himself for being useful to her and Bruce in the kitchen that they hadn't had the heart to tell him he was doing it wrong, so they kept the big chunks and let everyone else cut them into smaller portions.

"Dude," Ned said, sounding amazed. "Bruce Banner and Thor make your dinner?"

"I guess." Peter tapped his pencil eraser against the corner of his notebook, considering his equation. "I think….yeah, I should have multiplied." He crossed out the offending addition portion and began to recalculate the problem. "There. That looks right. You got fifty-two, right?" He looked up at Ned. His friend wasn't paying attention. He was watching Peter intently.

"What?"

"Dude, you have to let me come see the base. Seriously."

"The...base?" Peter blinked. He tried to think about what Tony had said in his rundown of the rules.

 _No entering someone's room without knocking or permission._

 _If you finish something or want something added to the grocery list, write it down on the list on the fridge._

 _Potentially volatile experiments in the lab require Bruce or myself to be with you._

Nothing in there about no friends visiting, but nothing in there about friends visiting, either.

"I don't know if I'm allowed," Peter admitted, fingering the watch at his wrist. He could contact Karen, but what if he annoyed Tony with a probably obvious rule? One of those rules that never needed to be spoken aloud because everyone just knew it?

"Please?" Ned asked.

Peter shrugged. Couldn't hurt to ask, right?

He tapped a button.

"Karen?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"Can you, um…." Peter had just realized Ned didn't really know about his arrangement of calling Tony Stark Dad. It was strange to think that all the Avengers knew, but not his best friend. At the same time, Ned would make a much bigger deal out of that information than was at all necessary.

"Call Mr. Stark?" Karen suggested.

"Yes," Peter agreed.  
"Let me check with FRIDAY to make sure he's available," Karen said.

"Karen is so cool," Ned said to Peter, staring at the watch. "What else can she do?"

"Mr. Stark says he will be glad to take your call, Peter," Karen said, before Peter could answer Ned's question. "Shall I patch you through?"

"Yes, please," Peter agreed.

"One moment while I transfer you to FRIDAY," Karen told him.

"Thanks, Karen."

"Of course, Peter."

"Apologies for the delay, Mr. Parker," came FRIDAY's cool Irish voice. "But Mr. Stark is having a quick conversation with Mr. Banner."  
"I can wait," Peter told her.

"Thank you, Mr. Parker."

"Who is that?" Ned asked, sounding starstruck.  
"Huh? Oh, this is FRIDAY," Peter said. "She's...I guess she's Mr. Stark's AI. Am I allowed to say Karen is my AI?"

"You sure are, kid," said Tony's voice, as a small hologram of him appeared hovering above the watch's face. "She's yours. Sorry about that, Bruce just wanted to let me know we're running low on a few lab supplies."  
"You've been patched through to Mr. Stark, Mr. Parker," FRIDAY told him.

"Thanks, FRIDAY," Peter and Tony said together.  
"Of course."

"What's up, kid? School treating you well?" Tony asked casually.

"Yeah, just going over some math homework," Peter said. "I just...I had a question."

"Shoot." Tony took off his sunglasses- blue tinted lenses indoors? Really? -and wiped them clean with a cloth.  
"Am….Am I allowed to bring friends to the base?"

Tony made a face. "Friends? Sure, bring friends over. I don't mind. FRIDAY, do you know where my glass cleaner is?"

"In the top drawer of your desk, Mr. Stark."

"Thank you!" Tony said, rummaging for the bottle. "Damn spots."  
"So Ned can come over?" Peter asked, shocked, while Ned did a silent victory dance.

"Your guy in the chair? Go for it."

Ned looked up, fascinated. _He knows who I am?_ Ned mouthed.

Peter shrugged to him. _I guess so_.

"I don't mind if you want to bring anyone over so long as you don't completely trash the base. Fair?"

"Fair," Peter said quickly. "So fair. Super fair."  
"Alright. Is he coming over today?"

Peter glanced up at Ned, who nodded vigorously.

"Yes."

"Staying the night or am I driving him home?"

Peter glanced at Ned, who gestured to his phone. His mother's number was waiting for him to hit the Send button.  
"We're still working that part out."

"Alright. Let me know. Bruce and I are going to be out that way to pick up a few things so we'll swing by and grab you two. You don't mind waiting at the school for about five minutes, do you?"

"Not at all, D- Mr. Stark."

"Alright, we'll see you boys then," Tony said. "Have a good rest of your day, kiddo. Let me know if you need anything else. And make sure you warn him about Thor's yelling and how annoying Quill and Strange are. I think they might both make an appearance tonight. I have _got_ to make the base magic proof locks. I'm getting sick of that wizard waltzing into the lab while I'm working on things."

"See you, Mr. Stark."

"See you, kid."

The hologram flickered away and Peter looked up at Ned. He was in awe.

" _Tony Stark knows who I am_."

"Come on," Peter said, gesturing to his textbook and his half-filled math notebook. "The more we finish now the less we'll have to do on the base."

"Right," Ned agreed. "Just let me call my mom first. If she says yes, do you think Mr. Stark would mind stopping by my house so I can pack an overnight bag?"

~(*)~

Ned looked ready to burst with excitement when the limo pulled up and Tony rolled down the window. "Come on, kids!"

Peter opened the door and let Ned slide into the limo first. He sat across from Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, looking starstruck.

Peter climbed in beside Ned, putting his friend directly across from Bruce and Peter across from Tony.

"Um, can we stop by Ned's house?" Peter asked. He suddenly felt very sheepish. Tony had to know by now that Peter hadn't told Ned he called Tony Dad. What if he was upset about it?

Tony, however, acted as though this was a normal conversation with Peter. "Sure. What's your address?"

Ned rattled off the address and Tony buzzed to the driver to take them there first.

"So, you're Ned Leeds, huh? Nice to meet you." Tony held out a hand, and Ned shook it enthusiastically. "It's an honor to meet you, sir!"

"And you. You make for a pretty good guy in the chair, from what Peter's told me."

"He does," Peter said quickly. "He's really helpful."

"And you're Bruce Banner!" Ned said as Tony released his hand and Bruce offered his own. "I've read some of your papers, and they were absolutely fascinating, if you don't mind me saying so, sir!"

"Not at all," Bruce said, smiling. "It's nice to meet you. Peter speaks very highly of you."

"So, Ned's mom says he can stay the night as long as she can talk to you first," Peter said to Tony.

"Fair," Tony agreed.

Peter tried to convey a look of apology to Tony- _I'm sorry I'm not ready for Ned to know I think of you as my dad_ \- but Tony just gave him a small, understanding smile.

"Peter," Bruce said, looking up from a small notebook he had in his hand, and taking off his glasses, "how do you feel about this new web formula Tony and I have been working on? We were thinking some more elasticity- at least to some of your web- might give you more of an edge in battle. We're hoping it might prevent tearing."

"Sounds cool," Peter said, taking the notebook and reading over the notes Bruce had penciled into the indicated pages. "Is this what you guys needed more supplies for?"  
"Actually, no," Tony said, offering Ned a soda. "We decided to start brainstorming that while we work on a new suit for Natasha. Not that her old one is bad, but it could use some upgrades. In my opinion she is painfully less equipped defensively than the rest of us in terms of her suit's protection. Unless you count Clint, since his suit doesn't even cover his arms, which is another stupid design choice."

Peter struggled not to laugh at Ned's expression. He looked both awed and horror-struck at how Tony Stark so easily criticized the suits of the other Avengers.

"You're always saying her suit is in need of upgrades," Peter said, smiling.

"He won't be happy with anyone's suits until they're protected from intergalactic superweapons," Bruce replied, clicking his tongue in a falsely disapproving manner. Peter knew even if Bruce didn't think the suits required the updates like Tony did, he liked helping to make and design them. "Just yesterday he was going over plans for an Iron Spider 2.0."

"Iron Spider 2.0? Sounds neat," Peter said, looking to Tony.

"Sounds like a surprise, you mean. You're not seeing what I've got in mind for a while."

Peter smiled. "If you say so."

"I do say so."

~(*)~

Peter wasn't sure what Ned's mother had been expecting, but it was quite clear it wasn't Ned opening the door so Peter could lead the way in for Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. She stared at the two of them, a look of shocked disbelief on her face.

"Hello, Mrs. Leeds," Tony said, offering a hand for her to shake. "I'm Tony Stark and this is Bruce Banner. I think you already know Peter. Ned said you didn't mind if he stayed the night so long as you could have a chat with me, I assume to go over contact information and the like."

She nodded wordlessly.

"Ah, excellent! Well, first, I should inform you of the safety features on-base."

Bruce rolled his eyes as Tony launched into a long-winded speech about the number of smoke detectors and FRIDAY's every safety feature. "You should go pack that bag," he told Ned. "He'll be going on like this for ages if we don't try to nip it in the bud somewhat."

Ned hurried off to his room, and Peter took a seat at the table, rummaging in his backpack for a spare granola bar or something.

"And of course, at any given time at least five Avengers are on base unless we get called on a mission- kid, catch- which isn't terribly likely, so Ned should be perfectly safe in that regard," Tony said, pausing only to warn Peter as he tossed an apple to him from the pocket of his suit jacket. Peter took a moment to envy what must be a tailor made suit to have such pockets, but to also be grateful for the apple.

"Thanks!" he said, taking a bite.

Tony winked at him, then began describing some other safety measure. Peter had already sat through this speech a few months ago; Tony had eagerly thrown himself into it when Peter had asked May about the possibility of the two moving to the Avengers base. Granted, there were now other safety measures that Tony had added, but Peter was fine with just eating his apple and adding a few extra notes to Bruce's notebook while Banner stood behind him and looked over his shoulder.

"No, no," Bruce said, leaning over Peter to make a mark over a note, "we tried that component a few web recipes back. It did not have good results."

The way he said it made Peter think _explosion_ , and but he didn't press Bruce for the details. If that had been the case, best not to mention it around Ned's mother, even if Tony had already explained in great detail where each sprinkler on the base was in case of a minor flame anywhere in the house.

"Oh, okay," Peter said. "Um, how about…." he trailed off, trying to think of something else to improve upon the recipe when Ned came into the room, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

"All packed," he said brightly.

"Ah, excellent!" Tony said, turning to look at him. "Absolutely excellent. Uh, Bruce, am I forgetting anything?" He turned on his heel to look at him.

Bruce straightened up and shook his head. "Tony, you don't need to go in depth about the plumbing or the reason 911 exists. This is fine. Do you agree, Mrs. Leeds?"

Ned's mother nodded, pulling her son over for a quick hug and kiss. "Behave," she told him.

"Got it, Mom!" he said, turning to Peter with an excited gleam in his eye.

"Off we go, then," Tony said, taking a piece of paper and pen from the counter and scribbling a few things down. "Here's the number to the base, FRIDAY, and my personal cellphone. Feel free to call any of them should the need arise."

"Bye, Mom!" Ned called as the four of them left back through the door.

~(*)~

"Ah, Man of Spiders! How was your day of learning?" Thor said as they entered. He sat on the couch, chatting with Steve and Natasha.

"It was good," Peter said, smiling back.

"We're having pizza for dinner," May said as she entered. "Steve, Natasha, Thor, what do you want?"

"Can we get a Hawaiian?" Ned asked.

"Already have it written down," May smiled to

him.

"Oh! Man of Spiders, is this a friend of yours?" Thor asked.

"Sure is," Peter nodded. "This is Ned. Ned, this is Thor, God of Thunder, Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow, and Steve Rogers, Captain America."

"It's nice to meet you," Ned told them.

"And you," said Steve, holding out his hand so Ned could shake it. Peter noticed that Ned's hand was shaking as he reached out to clasp Steve's.

"T0ny, Bruce, what would you like?"  
"A couple of pepperonis, if you don't mind, May!" Tony said, grabbing an apple from a fruit bowl on the island in the middle of the kitchen. "We're probably going to be shut up in the lab for quite a bit tonight."

"Are you trying to hide from Strange and Quill?" May asked suspiciously.

"What?" Tony scoffed. "Of course not. Maybe. Don't let them in our lab."

May rolled her eyes as he lead the way to the lab, Bruce following behind him after grabbing a few more apples, a handful of granola bars, and some water bottles.

"Can we go check out the lab?" Ned asked eagerly.

"After you finish your homework you can," Tony called back. "And as long as you don't let Strange or Quill follow you in."

"He _really_ doesn't like them anywhere near the lab," Peter said, setting his bag down by the coffee table and pulling out textbooks and notebooks. "Should we finish math first, or science?" he asked, settling himself down onto the couch next to Natasha, while Ned stared at him.

~(*)~

Ned didn't seem to remember the lab by the time they were done with their homework, or maybe he'd just lost interest. As Tony had predicted, Quill, the other Guardians of the Galaxy, Dr. Strange, and Wong had come to visit and participate in the pizza party.

Quill seemed particularly keen to watch a few newer movies, and Ned was currently going through the collection of Blu-Ray discs to help him pick something.

"We're not watching another Star Wars movie tonight," Strange said from where he was sitting. "We always watch something that takes place in space and I've had enough."

"Let's watch something that we know Ned's parents will approve of," Natasha said, pulling a case out from the collection and opening it. " _Secondhand Lions_ seems like a safe bet."

"That doesn't look exciting," Quill said doubtfully.

"Not every movie needs explosions to be entertaining," Natasha told him. "Besides, it has a lion, guns, and a bar fight."

"A bar fight?" Quill asked, taking the cover from Natasha as she put the disc in the player. "This movie might be interesting after all. Who does the kid beat up?"

"You'll have to find out who beats up who later," Natasha said. "We're a spoiler-free base."

"My favorite kind," Ned said to Peter, who nodded fervently. He would hate to be on a base where the Avengers spoiled the plot of any book or movie to the rest as soon as they had finished it. The closest any of them probably got was Thor, but he'd quiet himself quickly if reminded that no one else had experienced what he was so excited about yet.

"What are we waiting for, then?" Quill demanded. "Let's get started." He reached for another pizza slice from the box on the coffee table.

"I can't believe you just have movie nights and pizza parties with the Avengers," Ned said as Natasha smacked Steve in the arm.

"You're sitting on the remote. Get up."

"Don't say a word," Dr. Strange said warningly as Quill opened his mouth, an eager gleam in his eye.

Star-Lord paused, clearly considering ignoring the order, but then shrugged in defeat. "I can't think of a good enough joke anyway."

"I am Groot."

Peter laughed, as did Thor, while the Guardians gave Groot horror-struck looks.

"What did he say?" Ned asked in confusion.

"I probably shouldn't repeat it," Peter said, catching May's eye and giving her a weak but innocent smile.

~(*)~

Peter and Ned were in Peter's room. Peter had given Ned the bed and was using one of his hammocks for the night. Usually May insisted he use the bed- ("Tony bought you a brand new bed, and I'm sure it wasn't cheap")- but Tony didn't care where Peter slept so long as he, well, slept. Besides, he was being a courteous host.

He was sleeping at the moment, tossing and turning in his hammock.

~(*)~

 _Peter felt a rush of panic flood him. He stared around Titan, looking for the source. Wait… where was Drax?_

 _He caught sight of Mantis turning to ash in Quill's arms just before she vanished and Quill joined her. Tony looked horrified. Peter could see a very subtle tremble in his body._

" _Tony," said Strange's voice, and Peter turned as Tony did, "it was the only way."_

 _With an almost peaceful sigh, Strange was also gone in a flurry of ash._

 _The panic grew worse. It flooded Peter's senses, choked him somehow._

You're going to die.

 _Somehow he knew it- knew it, and knew he couldn't stop it, that this was a finality._

" _Mr. Stark?"_

 _Tony spun on his heel. Panic was clear in his bright brown eyes._

" _Mr. Stark, I don't feel so good."_

 _Peter took a step forward, but his legs gave out beneath him and he collapsed into Tony's arms. He clung to him, tears forming in his eyes as his senses began to scream out in earnest. He could feel himself being turned into ash, feel as bits of him floated away on the wind._

You're going to die!

This is it!

No one is going to know.

May won't know.

Ned isn't going to know.

What if Tony can't get home?

What if no one ever knows what happened?

Will anyone even remember me?

" _I don't know what's- I don't- I don't know what's happening," Peter gasped in a panicked voice. He hugged Tony tighter, terrified to let go. "I don't want to go," Peter whimpered pathetically. "I don't wanna go. Mr. Stark, please. Please, I don't wanna go."_

" _Hey, it's going to be okay. You're fine. You're going to be okay." Peter could hear the fear in Tony's voice as he tried to calm him down. Tony gently laid him down on the earth, staring into his eyes, helpless to do anything but to try and comfort Peter._

" _I don't wanna go," Peter repeated, still clutching at Tony's arms. "...I'm sorry," he said as the last of him was reduced to mere ash in Tony's hands._

~(*)~

Peter jerked to the right so hard he threw himself out of his hammock and onto the floor, looking around in terror. "I DON'T WANNA GO!"

He heard Ned say something in a groggy voice as he sat up in bed, but he ignored him, scrambling for the door and trying to force it open. He finally managed to get out and nearly tripped onto his face as he spilled into the living room and kitchen setup. A few pizza boxes sat on the trash can waiting to be taken out in the morning. "I don't wanna go!" Peter screamed again, trying to find a way to calm the panic. Nothing was working.

A door banged open down the hallway and two pairs of footsteps echoed as Tony and Bruce ran to Peter from where they were still doing late night experiments in the lab.

"Peter! Kid, it's okay, you're okay," Tony said, bending down next to the boy as he panicked and struggled to breathe. "It's going to be okay, Peter. You're going to be okay." Tony pulled him into a tight, comforting hug and led him to the couch. "Can you make him some hot chocolate?" Tony asked.

Peter didn't hear a response, but he did hear things being moved around in cupboards.

"It's over, Peter," Tony said, still holding him close. "It's over. Thanos isn't going to do anything like that ever again. You're safe now. You're in the base, and no one is going to hurt you here."

Peter was shaking with fear and panic, but slowly he began to calm down as Tony spoke. Slowly the fear began to ebb.

"Take deep breaths, now," Tony urged him. "In…. And out…. And in…. And out."

Peter tried his best to match Tony's deep breathing. It wasn't easy to hold the breaths, but it helped a bit.

"There you go," Tony said, his tone comforting. "There you go, Peter."

"Here," Bruce said, coming over and offering Peter a warm mug. Steam rose off the hot chocolate and Peter breathed in deeply, focusing on the scent. "Be careful," Bruce warned as Peter moved to sip at the drink, "it's hot."

"Is he okay?" Peter finally recognized Ned's voice and heard what he was saying.

"He's going to be fine," Bruce said, walking over to Ned and leading him to the kitchen island. "He just had a bad nightmare. Tony's calming him down. I'll make you some hot chocolate."

"Are you sure?" Ned asked, glancing back nervously.

"I'm sure." Bruce was smiling. "Don't worry. Tony has calmed him down before."

Ned glanced back at Peter, looking uncertain. "I've never seen him act like that before."

"The battle with Thanos was hard on him," Bruce said carefully. "War isn't a picnic. It's difficult. And that was a really rough war."

Tony looked up as Bruce began to pour milk into a mug. "Mind making one of those for me? Smells great."

Bruce nodded and began fixing two more mugs.

"Feeling better?" Tony asked, still holding Peter close.

"A-a l-little," Peter mumbled, sipping at his hot chocolate again. "Th-the peppermint is nice," he added to Bruce, who smiled.

"Glad you like it."

"Nightmare?" Tony asked gently.

Peter nodded. "About…. About when…. When I had to go."

Tony shuddered. "You're safe now. He can't do that to you again."

"It felt like it was happening again," Peter whispered. "Like…. Like I was _dying_ all over again."

"Shh," Tony murmured. "Don't think about that right now. Focus on something else. What can you see?"

"...The trees outside the window."

"Good. Four more."

"...May's favorite lamp. The DVD case for the movie we watched. That fern. The loveseat."

"Good," Tony praised. "Very good. Four things you can hear."

"The air conditioner," Peter began, looking around and cocking his head to the sides as he listened hard. "The microwave. Thor's snoring. Does Bruce moving the cups around count? He keeps clinking them."

"Yes. Three things you can feel."

"My mug. The couch. You hugging me," Peter recited.

"Good. Two things you can smell."

"The hot chocolate. I think some burned paper from the lab."

"Kid's got a good nose," Tony said to Bruce, who chuckled.

"Alright. One thing you can taste."

Peter took another sip of hot chocolate and pointed to his mug in answer.

"Can't argue with that," Tony said, nodding. "How do you feel now?"

"Weak," Peter admitted. "Really weak."

"It must have taken a lot out of you," Tony said.

"It was terrifying," Peter said quietly. "It was like it was really happening again."

"I'm sorry, kiddo. Hopefully it runs its course soon."

"I think it's almost over," Peter murmured, breathing deeply again. He could still feel his racing heartbeat, but things didn't seem as terrifying as they had before.

"Good," Tony sighed, relieved.

Bruce walked over and offered Tony a warm mug of hot chocolate.

"Thanks," Tony said, taking it with his free hand. Bruce nodded and sipped from his own mug.

"This is really good, Mr. Banner," Ned said from his seat at the island.  
"I'm glad you like it," Bruce said, smiling at him.

"You feeling better, Peter?" Ned asked, concerned.

"Y-yeah, I think so," Peter said, nodding.

"What _was_ that?" Ned asked.

"I… I'm not entirely sure." Peter admitted. "I've never had a nightmare like that before."  
"A flashback," Tony supplied.

"Y-yeah. And then when I woke up, I had a bad panic attack."

"It looked like you were pretty scared," Ned told him.

"You have no idea," Peter muttered to himself.

"Maybe don't sleep in your hammock for the rest of the night," Tony suggested, glancing at the door to Peter's room nervously. "I know you're not banged up or anything, but that was still a nasty height to fall from."

"Sure, Dad," Peter sighed. "I don't feel like climbing back up there anyway."

"How about you take the couch?" Tony suggested. "I'll bring you some blankets and pillows when you're ready to try getting back to sleep."

"Sounds perfect," Peter told him honestly.

"You should go back to bed, Ned," Bruce said, taking his empty mug and adding it to the dishwasher with his own. "Your mom might not let you come back if she thinks we don't let anyone get a full night's rest."

"Yeah…." Ned said slowly. He glanced over at Peter. "You sure you're okay?"

Peter nodded. "Go to sleep. I'll be fine."

Ned nodded back, though he looked uncertain as he entered Peter's room and shut the door behind him.

Tony yawned.

"You can go to bed, Dad," Peter said quietly. "You don't need to stay up with me."

"Nonsense," Tony grumbled. "I'm staying up until you fall asleep. You need me more than I need sleep."

Peter considered arguing, but he kept the words to himself.

"You two are going to freeze," Bruce sighed.

"We won't be here long," Tony yawned.

Bruce rolled his eyes and headed back to the lab to shut off all the machines that needed to be. When he came back a quarter of an hour later, he was not surprised to see Tony fast asleep, still hugging Peter close. Peter was fast asleep too, his mug sitting on the coffee table and one hand resting on Tony's chest, directly over the arc reactor.

Bruce shook his head. "' _We won't be here for long_ '," he quoted to himself, heading to one of the linen closets to find blankets to wrap Tony and Peter in.

~(*)~

Peter awoke slowly, to the sound of quiet chatter and the scent of French toast cooking in a frying pan. He blinked open his eyes slowly, looking around.

Ned sat at the island, pouring syrup over a stack of French toast as he chatted animatedly with Thor. Bruce was making more batter while May cooked French toast and put the finished pieces on plates.

Then Peter became aware that he wasn't lying on a pillow.

Tony shifted, still fast asleep, readjusting his grip on Peter as he stretched in his sleep. He groaned, then lifted his head, looking around groggily. "What? What happened?" He caught sight of the commotion in the kitchen and then groaned again, reaching his free arm to his neck. "Ugh, someone remind me next time that I always mess up my neck when I sleep like this."

"Okay," Peter yawned.

"Oh!" Tony seemed to have only just realized Peter was there. "Sleep well, kid?"

"Yeah," Peter yawned again. "Th-thanks, D-Mr. Stark."

"Of course," Tony said, releasing Peter and lifting his arms above his head in a stretch. "Man, I am exhausted."

"Why were you sleeping on the couch?" Thor asked.

"Bad nightmare," Peter told him, getting up and taking a plate of French toast that May was offering him.

"Hmm," Thor said, looking thoughtful.

"Hey, Peter, Bruce and I are going to Wakanda for the weekend. You want to come?" Tony asked, checking his phone and seeing the date.

"Uh…." Peter looked at Ned. It was a tempting offer, but it seemed rude to blow Ned off.

"I've got family coming to visit," Ned said, showing Peter a text his mother had sent. "I'm supposed to leave after breakfast."

"And I already said you could go if you wanted to," May told him, passing him the butter dish.

"Then…. Can I come?"

"Sure thing," Tony nodded. "You'll probably like Shuri's lab too, from what T'Challa has told me."

"Great!" Peter said eagerly. "I bet it will be cool to see Wakanda."

"Should be an enjoyable trip," Tony agreed. "After you finish eating, pack a bag. We'll drop Ned off and head out. May, do you mind saving me a plate? I need to find some Biofreeze for my neck, it's killing me."

"Not at all," May told him.

Tony headed off towards his room while Peter poured syrup over his French toast.

"Both of you," May said firmly to him and Ned, holding out the fruit bowl.

Ned chose an apple. Peter took an orange.

"Good." May replaced the bowl and used her spatula to add a few more newly finished pieces of French toast to the sizable stack waiting for more Avengers to wake up and eat them. Peter watched as she picked two perfectly golden brown pieces and added them to a separate plate. No burnt edges for Tony, it seemed.

~(*)~

Ned sat with Peter in the back of the limo, waiting while Tony chatted on the phone to someone outside the car while Bruce made his way outside.

"Can I ask you something?" Ned asked, and Peter started a bit.

"What? Oh, yeah. Sure. What's up?"

"Last night…." Ned trailed off, unsure of how to phrase the question.

"I'm really fine," Peter said earnestly. "It was just a bad flashback."

"That's not what I meant," Ned told him. "I was gonna say…. You called Tony Stark _Dad_."

Peter froze, blinking slowly. "...D-did I?" He asked, trying to remember.

"When he told you not to get in your hammock again."

"Oh." Peter paused, looking at his hands while he tried to think of something to say. He could see a cut under his third knuckle on his left hand. Had he done that falling out of the hammock, or had he done it earlier and just not noticed?

"So Tony Stark lets you call him that?"

Peter nodded. "He gave me permission. The...the first time."

Ned waited, and Peter sighed. "He must've woken May up making me hot chocolate, but she said something about how he was good at the parenting thing, and he said something like 'I like this kid, I think of him as a son'. And I haven't really had a dad before." Peter sighed, fiddling with his jacket nervously. "I just….I dunno. I've never had that before, not really. Ben and May aren't my parents. So when he said that I sort of…. I asked if I could before I stopped myself."

He chewed on his lip, thinking back to that night. "And… he said I could. So he's been Dad ever since, for the most part. It was hard to remember he didn't mind it for the first couple of months. He didn't push me to call him that or anything, but it was nice, so I did it. And it fit, somehow."

He sighed. "I didn't mention it because I thought it sounded weird. Or you'd make a big deal out of it. I just…. This is sort of _my_ thing, you know? And the rest of the Avengers and May, they just accept it and don't say anything. I guess I just don't see the point in a lot of fuss."

Peter looked up. Ned was watching him intently.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Ned. "It's fine. Like you said, it's your thing. I guess I probably would have made a big deal about it if you told me about it at first. I mean, it's really cool."

"Yeah," Peter agreed slowly. "It is."

"I thought it was kinda weird you didn't call him Tony or something since you're on first-name basis with everyone else. Guess I know why."

Peter laughed. "I made it kind of obvious something was up, huh?"

"Just a little." Ned grinned.

Tony tapped on the glass. "Ready to go?" he asked.

Bruce was coming out now, luggage in hand.

"Yeah," Peter and Ned said together, sliding out of the way to make room for Tony and Bruce.

"So, Ned, have a nice visit?" Tony asked, tucking his phone back in his jacket pocket.

"Yes sir," Ned said, nodding. "Good. Very good."

"Well, you're welcome to come back for a visit any time."

"You'll have to check out the lab next time," Peter told him. "It's really cool."

"It's Candyland," Tony said, an almost wistful small falling across his face before he clapped, an eager gleam sparking in his eye. "But _Shuri's_ lab is supposed to be even better. I can't wait."

"Like a kid in a candy factory," Bruce told them, rolling his eyes at Tony's expression.

~(*)~

Peter was jolted awake by a small bout of turbulence. He looked around, as if the source of it was on the aircraft.

"Morning, kiddo," Tony called from the front where he and Bruce were flying. "Sleep well?"

Peter yawned. "Yeah. Where are we?"

"Almost to Wakanda," Tony told him. "Bruce says crossing the barrier is amazing, so I'm glad you're awake for it."

Peter hurried up to the front to watch as they skimmed lower, towards the tree line. Just when he thought they should be running into tree trunks, they phased through and were instead greeted by a magnificent city on the water.

"Whoa," Peter breathed, staring at it.

"Amazing," Tony said, his voice almost reverent.

They landed in front of a huge building, and Peter saw T'Challa waiting among the others to greet them. "It's Black Panther," he said excitedly.

"Sure is, kid. Come on."

Tony grabbed his and Peter's bags before getting off the craft, followed closely by Bruce and then Peter.

He caught sight of a pretty girl standing a few paces behind T'Challa, who looked to be around his age and seemed a bit bored by the proceedings.

"Tony," T'Challa said warmly, "Bruce. Peter. Welcome to Wakanda."

"Thank you," Tony and Bruce said together.

"Thanks," Peter said.

"This is my little sister, Shuri," T'Challa said, motioning for the girl to step forward.

"Hello, Mr. Stark, Mr. Banner."

They both greeted her in turn.

"Hi," Peter said awkwardly. Shuri appraised him.

"Hello," she replied.

Just then- why did it have to be while he was meeting a _king_? -Peter's phone went off.

 _Hey! How you doing? Well I'm doing just fine. I lied, I'm dying inside._

Tony turned stark white as Peter hurried to pull the phone out of his pocket and silence it.

"I'm so sorry," he gasped to T'Challa and Shuri.

Shuri was looking at him with a new gleam in her eye, though. "You know Vines?" she asked.

"Y-yeah," Peter said, nodding. "I love Vines."

"I think we're going to get along," Shuri told him. "How do you feel about science?"

"I love it!" Peter said, lighting up. "I've been trying to develop new web recipes with Dad and Bruce!"

"Tell me everything," Shuri demanded as she threw her arm over his shoulders and steered him into the building.

Tony watched them go. He looked like he might've suffered serious blood loss.

"Are you okay, Tony?" Bruce asked, concerned.

"My heart can't take this shit," Tony grumbled to himself.

"What's up with you?" Bruce asked.

"We're stealing that phone," Tony told him, "and we're changing that fucking ringtone."


End file.
